Name Southington Bridge After Police Officer, Lawmaker Says

SOUTHINGTON — The westbound side of the I-84 bridge over Queen Street should be named for a town police officer who died last September at age 50 from brain cancer, state Rep. David Zoni says.

Zoni said Wednesday that Shanley was a well-respected officer for 29 years and deserves the memorial. He sent the request to the legislature's transportation committee.

The eastbound side of the bridge was named in 2013 to honor John A. Dolan, a Southington resident and state trooper who died from cancer in 2002 at age 36. Zoni said that Dolan and Shanley were friends and that having their names on opposite side of the bridge would be a fitting tribute.

Zoni said he got permission from Shanley's relatives to request the memorial. He also said a former Cheshire police officer living in Southington requested the bridge naming.

Shanley was a lieutenant in charge of the detective bureau when he retired last February because of his advancing illness. Hundreds of people, including municipal police officers, state trooper and police chiefs, went to Shanley's wake in September in Southington.

He joined the Southington police department in 1985 after graduating for the police academy. He was promoted to detective in 1993, was assigned for two years to the Statewide Narcotics Task Force and was a lead investigator in a quadruple homicide inside a Shuttle Meadow road home by two drug dealers now serving life terms for murder. Shanley's work helped capture the suspects after the point-blank execution of the four victims on Sept. 25, 1996.

"It is appropriate that we honor these men who dedicated their lives to protecting the citizens of Southington and Connecticut" Zoni said.

Zoni hoped that a naming ceremony would be held later this year if the legislative request is approved.